Nordic or HopeRF radio

what are peoples experiences. On a longer timescale, is the recommended radio the HopeRF one, or could it be Nordic as well? Because of the lower frequency of the HopeRF radios, range/penetration could better, compared to 2.4GHz, but are there any tests that prove this?
What is the general opinion about radio selection?

The RFM69HW can go as high as 17-20db on Tx power, and that certainly helps it get longer range. Most NRF24L01+ modules are nowhere near that high.

Some factors in favor of the NRF24L01+:

typically lower cost for the module itself

the SMD modules are very compact, so the footprint is small.

Much higher bitrate supported: 2mbps versus at most 300kbps for the RFM69.

automatic ACKs and re-transmits.

Comparing the two, the main downside to the NRF24L01 is its more limited range. On the other hand, there are amplified versions. Then again, it seems YMMV as to how good those are, and their documentation seems non-existent.

I mainly should have emphasized the compactness rather than the footprint of the SMD (since it's small and includes a PCB antenna), as compared to the RFM69, which has a comparable footprint to the SMD but which still needs an antenna.

ListenMode is one of the things that originally attracted me to the RFM69. However, it's not as big a deal as I had originally thought. With an atmega328p you can approximate it quite easily on almost any radio.

@joaoabs I have both nrf24l01+ and rfm69w
My recommendation is rfm69w. Yes a bit more expensive but the amount of time I spent troubleshooting nrf clones could have been used elsewhere. Rfm69w just works out of the box in 98%. No clones and that means you won’t have strange NACKs and do not have to call for a shaman to make it work

I know this might be considered off topic, but if you want future proofing, make sure you run on a platform with more memory than atmega328p. As for what radio to use, there is nothing in the roadmap that hints at any existing radio being dropped from the supported list. That said, nrf24 does carry a bunch of issues with it with respect to counterfeit chips.

I recently started with MySensors. I chose the RFM69W radio over the nrf24 due to posts complaining about range issues with the nrf24. That said I can tell I can tell you the range of my RFM69W is excellent. From my basement (concrete foundation) to the other side of my neighbors house ~75 meters with no issues.

The only drawback I see is the voltage limit of 3.3Vdc. This precludes using some batteries without a regulator.

I also found the external antenna could be a + or -. Currently I'm using a coil / spring type antenna mounted on the board.